Upholstery progress

[gasman826]

I got tired of carpet burns so I moved to electrical.  With the cluster upgrade, several wires can be eliminated or a few required extensions.  The cluster is removable but there are no connections...every wire must be individually disconnected with just a few inches to get your hand in there while balancing the cluster without nicking or scratching anything.  So...I'm rewiring the cluster wires to have connectors that will be plugged in after the cluster is installed.

[gasman826]

fun stuff!

[RICH MUISE]

What car is that on? When I wired my (custom) dash, I used small connectors so that everything could be connected /disconnected easily. When you are doing that,if I understand you correctly, use different size connectors or reverse the male/female end "fittings" so that each of the connectors can only be reassembled onto one mating connector.
Carpet burns, I remember those from years ago, but had nothing to do with my car.

[59meteor]

Rich, just guessing, but that dash cluster looks like a 1965 or 66 Galaxie to me. Always liked those cars, a buddy years ago had a 66 Galaxie 7 Liter 4 speed, and I know a guy in Washington State that had 2 6 4 doors that were rather unusual, one was a 428 4 speed LTD 4 dr hardtop, and the other was a Galaxie 500 4 door with a 390 4 speed. I can`t imagine that they made very many big block 4 speed 4 doors, especially the LTD.

[Ford Blue blood]

I believe it is his Galaxie. 

Always wondered why (back in the day) there were no common connectors for assemblies like the dash?  Todays cars have huge, multi wire connectors making taking it apart easier.  Having said that, when building I try to make detachable items with wires into a common connector.  If not common, gust grouped together with plenty of slack to make maintenance easier.  Vendors like Del City make purchasing items like that easy!

[geraldchainsaw]

Gary,, is the lizard skin thermal like por 15,  better or worse?

[gasman826]

Lizard Skin is for thermal or sound deadening.  POR 15 is a rust product.

[RICH MUISE]

LOL."rust produce"?? Gary, you were a farmer for too long. Funny.
Gerald, Gary is correct, por-15 does not have any thermal properties.

[RICH MUISE]

Bill, earlier this year you mentioned a place called Del City for connectors. Do you have a website for them?

[Ford Blue blood]

Here ya go Rich.

https://www.delcity.net/?r=IS1001&mkwid=ss5E7Zq0y&crid=&mp_kw=del+city+wire&mp_mt=e&msclkid=09edf633e1171b13b27c9e811554573d&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Brand&utm_term=del+city+wire&utm_content=Brand+Ads

[RICH MUISE]

Thanks, Bill. Just what I will be looking for after I get my '57 back in a few weeks. Delcity calls them "Packard connectors". I used to get them at Radio Shack.
When I left my car in Tulsa, they told me one of my taillights was out, and I've had that exact problem before with the type of connector I used on the tailights.

[gasman826]

I was following along with the Bill and Rich conversation and realized I had started this post and never shared pictures of the finished upgrades.

[gasman826]

...more

[mustang6984]

Looks pretty slick Gary! Nice work! 

[RICH MUISE]

Great job as per your usual!!! Pics and story of the car would be nice.